Who is Manjula Chellur? Former Chief Justice of Calcutta HC to Head SIT In Post-poll Violence

Who is Manjula Chellur? On Friday, September 3, the Calcutta High Court notified that Justice Manjula Chellur would head the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the post-poll violence cases. The team is constituted by the High Court to examine the allegations of the post-poll violence that erupted in West Bengal after the 2021 assembly elections were declared.

Who is Manjula Chellur? Seven things we know about the Justice

1. Manjula Chellur is the former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. She was the first woman to hold the post there. Chellur was also the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and Kerala High Court. She was also the first female judge of Karnataka High Court. On attaining the age of superannuation on December 4, 2017, she resigned from her office.
2. Manjula Chellur received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Allum Sunmangalamma Women's College, Bellary. She earned her degree in law from Renukacharya Law College, Bangalore. The Supreme Court of India sponsored her on Gender and Law fellowship to University of Warwick, England in 1977.
3. Justice Chellur received an honorary doctorate degree from Karnataka State Women's University in 2013.
4. Chellur was the first woman advocate to practice law in Karnataka's Bellary. She worked as a legal advisor who practised both civil and criminal law before the local courts at Bellary.
5. Chellur was appointed as District and Sessions Judge in 1988. She served as the Principal and Sessions Judges for Kolar and Mysore. Besides, she was the Chief Judge of Court of Small Causes and Principal Judge at the Bangalore Family Court.
6. She served as the President of the Karnataka Judicial Academy from June 2008 to March 2010. Chellur was also the executive chairperson of Karnataka State Legal Service Authority. She was appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court in 2011.
7. In 2013, the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court which consisted of Justice Vinod Chandran and Chief Justice Chellur ordered that the state government should submit a statement regarding a high-profile rape case against P.J. Kurien, the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

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